Method for fabricating image display device

ABSTRACT

There is provided a method for fabricating an image display device having an active matrix substrate including high-performance transistor circuits operating with high mobility as drive circuits for driving pixel portions which are arranged as a matrix. The portion of a polysilicon film formed in a drive circuit region DAR 1  provided on the periphery of the pixel region PAR of the active matrix substrate SUB 1  composing the image display device is irradiated and scanned with a pulse modulated laser beam or a pseudo CW laser beam to be reformed into a quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film having a crystal boundary continuous in the scanning direction so that discrete reformed regions each composed of the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film are formed. In virtual tiles TL composed of the discrete reformed regions, drive circuits having active elements such as thin-film transistors or the like are formed such that the channel directions thereof coincide with the direction of crystal growth in the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image display device and, moreparticularly, to a method for fabricating an image display device inwhich the crystal structure of a semiconductor film formed on aninsulating substrate is reformed with a laser beam and active elementsfor a drive circuit are formed in the reformed semiconductor film.

2. Description of Related Art

An active matrix display device (which is also referred to as an imagedisplay device in an active matrix drive system or simply referred to asa display device) using active elements, such as thin-film transistors,as drive elements for pixels arranged as a matrix has been used widely.Most of image display device of this type are capable of displaying ahigh-quality image by disposing, on an insulating substrate, a largenumber of pixel circuits and drive circuits composed of active elementssuch as thin-film transistors (TFTs) which are formed by using a siliconfilm as a semiconductor film. By way of example, a description will begiven to a thin-film transistor as a typical example of the activeelement.

It has been difficult to constitute a circuit on which high-speed andhigh-function requirements are placed by thin-film transistors eachusing a non-crystalline silicon semiconductor film (an amorphous siliconsemiconductor film) that has thus far been used commonly as asemiconductor film because the performance of the thin-film transistorsrepresented by carrier (electron or hole) mobility is limited. It iseffective in implementing a thin-film transistor with high mobilityrequired to provide a higher-quality image to preliminarily reform(crystallize) an amorphous silicon film (hereinafter also referred to asa non-crystalline silicon film) into a polysilicon film (hereinafteralso referred to as a polycrystalline silicon film) and form thethin-film transistor by using the polysilicon film. For the reformation,technology which anneals the amorphous silicon film by irradiating itwith a laser beam, such as an excimer laser beam, has been used.

This type of technology associated with laser annealing is described indetail in a paper such as: T. C. Angelis et al., “Effect of ExcimerLaser Annealing on the Structural and Electrical Properties ofPolycrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistor,” J. Appl. Phy., Vol. 86,pp. 4600-4606, 1999; H. Kuriyama et al., “Lateral Grain Growth ofPoly-Si Films with a Specific Orientation by an Excimer Laser AnnealingMethod,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phy., Vol. 32, pp. 6190-6195, 1993; or K. Suzukiet al, “Correlation between Power Density Fluctuation and Grain SizeDistribution of Laser Annealed Poly-Crystalline Silicon,” SPIEConference, Vol. 3618, pp. 310-319, 1999.

A method for reforming an amorphous silicon film through crystallizationby using irradiation with an excimer laser beam will be described withreference to FIGS. 34A and 34B. FIGS. 34A and 34B are views illustratinga commonest method for crystallizing the amorphous silicon film byscanning with the irradiation of an excimer pulse laser beam, of whichFIG. 34A shows a structure of an insulating film formed with asemiconductor layer to be irradiated and FIG. 34B shows the state ofreformation under the irradiation of the laser beam. For the insulatingsubstrate, glass or ceramic is used.

In FIGS. 34A and 34B, an amorphous silicon film AS1 deposited on aninsulating substrate SUB with an underlying film (SiN or the like, notshown) interposed therebetween is irradiated with a linear excimer laserbeam ELA with a width in the range of several nanometers to severalhundreds of nanometers. By moving the irradiation position in onedirection (x direction) as indicated by the arrow for each pulse or eachseveral pulses, the amorphous silicon film AS1 is scanned to beannealed, whereby the amorphous silicon film AS1 over the entireinsulating substrate SUB is reformed into a polysilicon film PS1.Various processes including etching, wire formation, and ionimplantation are performed with respect to the polysilicon film PS1obtained as a result of reforming the amorphous silicon film AS1 by thismethod to form a circuit having active elements, such as thin-filmtransistors, in individual pixel portions or drive portions. Theinsulating substrate is used to fabricate an image display device in anactive matrix system such as a liquid crystal display device or anorganic EL display device.

FIGS. 35A and 35B are a partial plan view of a portion irradiated withthe laser beam and a plan view of a principal portion of a thin-filmtransistor for illustrating an exemplary structure thereof. As shown inFIG. 35A, numerous crystallized silicon grains (polycrystalline silicon)ranging in size from 0.05 to 0.5 μm grow uniformly across the surface ofthe portion irradiated with the laser beam. Most of the crystalboundaries of the individual silicon grains (i.e., silicon crystals) areclosed by themselves (the crystal boundaries are present between thesilicon grains which are adjacent in each direction). The portionenclosed by the box in FIG. 35A forms a transistor portion TRA composedof a semiconductor film for active elements such as individual thin-filmtransistors. The conventional reformation of a silicon film indicatessuch crystallization.

To form a pixel circuit by using the foregoing silicon film (polysiliconfilm PSI) resulting from the reformation, etching is performed withrespect to the crystallized silicon to use a portion thereof as thetransistor portion and remove an unneeded portion thereof other than theportion serving as the transistor portion TRA shown in FIG. 35A, wherebyan island of the silicon film is formed as shown in FIG. 35B. Athin-film transistor is fabricated by placing a gate insulating film(not shown), a gate electrode GT, a source electrode SD1, and a drainelectrode SD2 on the resulting island PSI-L.

Although the foregoing prior art technology has formed the thin-filmtransistor on the insulating substrate by using the polysilicon filmresulting from the reformation and thereby disposed an active elementwith excellent operational performance such as a thin-film transistor,the carrier mobility (the electron mobility or the hole mobility whichwill also be referred to simply as the electron mobility) in the channelof, e.g., a thin-film transistor using the crystal of a polysilicon filmis limited, as stated previously. Specifically, since the crystalboundary of each of the particulate crystals in the polysilicon filmthat has been crystallized by the irradiation with the excimer laserbeam is closed, as shown in FIGS. 34A and 34B, the achievement of ahigher carrier mobility in the channel between the source and drainelectrodes is limited. In addition, the circuit density of the drivecircuit has also been increased with a recent trend toward higherdefinition. An active element such as a thin-film transistor in Such adrive circuit having an extremely high circuit density is requested tohave a much higher carrier mobility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a methodfor fabricating an image display device comprising an active matrixsubstrate having a high-performance thin-film transistor circuitoperating with a high mobility and the like as drive elements fordriving pixel portions arranged as a matrix. The application of thepresent invention is not limited to the reformation of a polysiliconsemiconductor film formed on an insulating substrate for the imagedisplay device. The present invention is also applicable to thereformation of a similar semiconductor film formed on another substrate,such as a silicon wafer, and the like.

Thus, the present invention adopts a novel method which forms discretereformed regions each composed of a quasi-strip-like-crystal siliconfilm by selectively reforming a silicon film composing a circuit in adrive circuit region disposed on the periphery of the pixel region of anactive matrix substrate through irradiation with a pulse modulated laserbeam or a pseudo CW laser beam and forms drive circuits composed ofactive elements such as thin-film transistors or the like in thediscrete reformed regions, thereby providing a high-performance imagedisplay device operating with high mobility

As means for satisfying the foregoing requirement, the present inventionirradiates an entire surface of an amorphous silicon film formed overthe entire region of an insulating substrate to reform the amorphoussilicon film into a polysilicon film, for example by excimer laser beamannealing or solid-state laser annealing or produces an insulatingsubstrate formed with a polysilicon film, selectively irradiates theportion of the polysilicon film located in a drive circuit region placedon the periphery of the pixel region of the of the insulating substratewith a pulse modulated laser beam or a pseudo CW laser beam using asolid-state laser such that scanning in a specified direction isperformed, and thereby forms discrete reformed regions each composed ofa quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film with a large-sized crystalresulting from the reformation such that crystals grown in the scanningdirection have an continuous crystal boundary.

Each of the discrete reformed regions has a generally rectangularconfiguration. When a required circuit, such as a drive circuit, isformed in the rectangular discrete reformed region, the direction of thechannel of an active element, such as a thin-film transistor, composingthe circuit is controlled to be generally parallel with the direction ofa crystal boundary in the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film. Inaccordance with the present invention, the aforementioned technology forforming the discrete reformed regions composed of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films by irradiation with the pulsemodulated laser beam will be termed SELAX (Selectively Enlarging LaserCrystallization).

In the fabrication of the image display device according to the presentinvention, the discrete reformed regions composed of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films are formed preferably by theforegoing SELAX process which selectively irradiates the polysiliconfilm on the drive circuit portion with a laser beam (hereinafter alsoreferred to simply as a laser) by using a reciprocal operation. Althoughthe discrete reformed regions may also be formed entirely over the drivecircuit region, it is recommended that the discrete reformed regions areformed to have generally rectangular configurations in a region of thedrive circuit region which requires the formation of the discretereformed regions as a result of considering the density of the drivecircuit and the like. By arranging the generally rectangular discretemodified regions primarily in the requiring region of the drive circuitregion, in particular, it becomes possible to perform the laser beamirradiation process with uniform efficiency and form thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film with uniform quality in each ofthe discrete reformed regions.

The quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film according to the presentinvention is an aggregate of single crystals having a width of, e.g.,0.1 μm to 10 μm and a length of about 1 μm to 100 μm if the width isassumed to extend in a direction orthogonal to the direction of scanningwith the laser beam and the length is assumed to extend in the scanningdirection. By using such a quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film, anexcellent carrier mobility is achievable. The value of the excellentcarrier mobility is about 300 cm²/Vs or more, preferably 500 cm²/Vs ormore as electron mobility.

In the conventional reformation of a silicon film performed by using anexcimer laser, numerous crystallized silicon grains ranging in size fromabout 0.05 μm to 0.5 μm (polysilicon) grow randomly in the portionirradiated with the laser beam. The electron mobility of such apolysilicon film is about 200 cm²/Vs or less and about 120 cm²/Vs on theaverage. Although this indicates improved performance compared with theelectron mobility of an amorphous silicon film which is 1 cm²/Vs orless, the discrete reformed regions composed of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films according to the presentinvention have electron mobility higher than the foregoing electronmobility.

A silicon film provided on the pixel regions of the insulating substratecomposing the image display device according to the present invention isa polysilicon film obtained by reforming an amorphous silicon filmformed by CVD or sputtering through irradiation with an excimer laserbeam and a silicon film provided on the drive circuit region is aquasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film obtained by further reforming thecrystal structure of the polysilicon film through irradiation with apulse modulated laser beam or a pseudo CW laser beam each using asolid-state laser. The pulse modulation is defined herein as amodulation method which changes the width of a pulse, an intervalbetween pulses, or both of them. Specifically, such a modulated pulsecan be obtained by performing EO (Electro-Optic) modulation with respectto a CW (Continuous-Wave) laser.

In accordance with the present invention, the polysilicon film on thedrive circuit region of the insulating substrate is selectivelyirradiated and scanned with the pulse modulated laser beam such that theselectively irradiated regions, i.e., the regions reformed into thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film are formed to have generallyrectangular configurations which are arranged along the surface of theinsulating substrate. Hereinafter, the generally rectangular regionswill be referred to also as virtual tiles. The virtual tiles and theindividual reformed regions composing the virtual tiles are arranged individed relation to form blocks each composed of a plurality of tiles orregions in correspondence with the circuit portions to be formedthereafter. The use of such virtual tiles not only achieves theforegoing effect but also obviates the necessity to irradiate, with thelaser beam, the region of a semiconductor film to be etched away in theprocess of forming a thin-film transistor and the like, therebysignificantly reducing an unneeded operation.

In accordance with the present invention, an excimer laser, acontinuous-wave solid-state laser oscillating at a wavelength of 200 nmto 1200 nm, or a solid-state pulse laser in the same wavelength range isused preferably to reform the amorphous silicon film into thepolysilicon film. The laser beam preferably has a wavelength absorbed byamorphous silicon to be annealed, i.e., a UV wavelength or a visiblewavelength. More specifically, the second and third harmonics or fourthharmonic of an Ar laser, an Nd:YAG laser, an Nd:YVO₄ laser, or an Nd:YLFlaser can be used. If consideration is given to the magnitude of anoutput and stability, the second harmonic (with a wavelength of 532 nm)of an LD (Laser Diode) excited Nd:YAG laser or the second harmonic (witha wavelength of 532 nm) of the Nd:YVO₄ laser is most preferred. Theupper and lower limits of such a wavelength are determined by atrade-off between the range in which the absorption of the beam in thesilicon film occurs efficiently and a stable laser beam source which iseconomically available. The polysilicon film may also be formed in thestage of film deposition. For example, it can be formed directly on asubstrate or on an underlie by cat-CVD (catalytic vapor deposition).

The solid-state laser according to the present invention features stablesupply of a laser beam to be absorbed by the silicon film and a reducedeconomical load including a gas exchange operation peculiar to gas laserand the degradation of an emitter portion, so that it is preferred asmeans for economically reforming the silicon film. However, the presentinvention does not positively exclude an excimer laser having awavelength of 150 nm to 400 nm as the laser.

The laser used to reform the polysilicon film into thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film in accordance with the presentinvention is preferably a continuous-wave solid-state laser, a pulsemodulated solid-state laser, each oscillating at a wavelength of 200 nmto 1200 nm, or a pseudo CW solid-state laser (pseudo continuous-wavesolid-state laser). The pseudo CW solid-state laser regards a pulselaser with a high frequency as a pseudo continuous-wave laser. By usinga so-called mode locking technique, a pulse laser with a wavelength of100 MHz or more is obtainable even if the wavelength is in a UV region.Even when the irradiation laser is a short pulse, if a next pulse isemitted within the solidification time (<100 ns.) of silicon, a meltingtime can be extended without involving the solidification of the siliconfilm so that the laser can be regarded as pseudo CW. In combination withthe EO (Electro-Optic) modulation, it is possible to causehigh-efficiency absorption of laser energy and provide a polycrystallinesilicon film (quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film) having a lengthcontrolled in the direction of scanning with the laser beam.

In the present invention, it is preferable to optically adjust the laserbeam, equalize an intense spatial distribution, and perform irradiationby focusing the laser beam by using a lens system. In the presentinvention, the irradiation width when irradiation is performed byintermittent scanning with the laser beam is determined by consideringan economical trade-off between the width of a region required for thedrive circuit region and the rate of the width to the pitch. The widthand length of the irradiated portion forming the foregoing virtual tileconfiguration are determined by considering the size, degree ofintegration, and the like of the circuit in use. The present inventionis not limited to scanning over the insulating substrate performed bymoving the laser beam. It is also possible to place the insulatingsubstrate on an X-Y stage and intermittently perform the laser beamirradiation in synchronization with the movement of the X-Y stage.

In the present invention, irradiation with a continuous-wave, pulselaser beam is preferably performed by scanning at a speed of 50 mm/s to3000 mm/s. The lower limit of the scanning speed is determined by atrade-off between the time required to scan the drive circuit region inthe insulating substrate and an economical load. The upper limit of theirradiation speed is limited by the ability of mechanical equipment usedfor scanning.

The present invention performs scanning by using, for the laserirradiation, a beam obtained by converging a laser beam by means of anoptical system. At this time, it is also possible to use an opticalsystem which converges a single laser beam onto a single beam. If alarge-sized substrate is to be processed in a short period of time,however, it is preferable to perform simultaneous scanning for theirradiation of pixel portions in a plurality of rows with a plurality ofbeams into which a single laser beam has been divided. Thissignificantly improves the efficiency of laser beam irradiation. In thepresent invention, it is also possible to operate a plurality of laseroscillators in parallel for the laser irradiation. The use of the methodis also particularly preferred if a large-sized substrate is to beprocessed in a short period of time.

In the present embodiment, an active element circuit formed from asilicon film reformed into a quasi-strip-like crystal is not limited toa typical top-gate thin-film transistor circuit. It is also possible touse a bottom-gate thin-film transistor circuit instead. In the casewhere a single-channel circuit of only an N-channel MIS or a P-channelMIS is required, a bottom-gate type may be rather preferred in terms ofreducing the number of fabrication process steps. In this case, thesilicon film formed on gate wiring with an insulating film interposedtherebetween is reformed into a quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film bylaser irradiation so that the use of a refractory metal for a gatewiring material is preferred and the use of a gate wiring materialcontaining tungsten (W) or molybdenum (Mo) as a main component ispreferred.

By using, as an active matrix substrate, the insulating substrate havinga semiconductor structure such as a thin-film transistor for the drivecircuit according to the present invention, a liquid crystal displaydevice with excellent image quality can be provided at low cost. Byusing the active matrix substrate according to the present invention, anorganic EL display device with excellent image quality can also beprovided at low cost. The present invention is not only applicable tothe liquid crystal display device and the organic EL display device butalso applicable to an active-matrix image display device in anothersystem having a similar semiconductor structure in the drive circuitthereof and to various semiconductor devices formed on a semiconductorwafer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view for schematically illustrating a liquid crystaldisplay device as an example of an image display device fabricated byusing a fabrication method according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary circuit structure ofa data drive circuit portion in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a structural view of each of sampling switch portionscomposing respective sampling circuits in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view illustrating a structure of each of thesampling switch circuits formed in respective virtual tiles shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the channel portion of a thin-filmtransistor (TFT), which shows crystal orientation in aquasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film by further enlarging the principalportion of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the portion B in the virtual tileshown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C′ of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a timing chart illustrating operation shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for diagrammatically illustrating anotherembodiment obtained by applying the image display device according tothe present invention to a liquid crystal display device, which issimilar to FIG. 2;

FIGS. 10A to 10C are views illustrating the process of a method forfabricating an image display device according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 11D to 11F are views illustrating the process of the method forfabricating an image display device according to the embodiment, whichis subsequent to FIG. 10C;

FIGS. 12G to 12I are views illustrating the process of the method forfabricating an image display device according to the embodiment, whichis subsequent to FIG. 11F;

FIGS. 13J and 13K are views illustrating the process of the method forfabricating an image display device according to the embodiment, whichis subsequent to FIG. 12I;

FIGS. 14L and 14M are views illustrating the process of the method forfabricating an image display device according to the embodiment, whichis subsequent to FIG. 13K;

FIG. 15N is a view illustrating the process of the method forfabricating an image display device according to the embodiment, whichis subsequent to FIG. 14M;

FIGS. 16A to 16C are views illustrating the process of forming discretereformed regions (virtual tiles) composed of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film;

FIGS. 17A and 17B are views each illustrating a crystal structure of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film;

FIGS. 18A and 18B are views illustrating different electron mobilitiesin the channel of a thin-film transistor resulting from differentcrystal structures of the silicon film;

FIG. 19 is a structural view illustrating an example of an apparatus forlaser beam irradiation;

FIG. 20 is a plan view illustrating an example of the layout of thevirtual tiles;

FIG. 21 is a view illustrating an example of a laser irradiation processusing the irradiation apparatus of FIG. 19;

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating an operation of forming the virtual tilescomposed of a quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film SPSI, which isperformed to each of the individual insulating substrates of a multiplelarge-sized mass insulating substrate;

FIGS. 23A and 23B are plan views of an active matrix substrate forillustrating an example of the positions of the virtual tiles formed inFIG. 22;

FIGS. 24A and 24B are enlarged views for illustrating other arrangementsof the virtual tiles, which are similar to FIG. 23B;

FIG. 25 is a plan view of an active matrix substrate for illustratinganother example of the positions of the virtual tiles;

FIG. 26 is a plan view of an active material substrate for illustratingstill another example of the positions of the virtual tiles;

FIGS. 27P-1 to 27P-3 are views illustrating a first example of theformation of a positioning mark on an active matrix substrate SUB1 and aprocess of continuous pulse laser irradiation targeted at the mark;

FIGS. 28P-1 to 28P-3 are views illustrating a second example of theformation of the positioning mark on an active matrix substrate SUB1 andthe process of continuous pulse laser irradiation targeted at the mark;

FIGS. 29P-1 to 29P-3 are views illustrating a third example of theformation of the positioning mark on an active matrix substrate SUB1 andthe process of continuous pulse laser irradiation targeted at the mark;

FIG. 30 is a developed perspective view illustrating a structure of aliquid crystal display device as a first example of the image displaydevice according to the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line Z-Z of FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is a developed perspective view illustrating an exemplarystructure of an organic EL display device as a second example of theimage display device according to the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a plan view of an organic EL display device into which thecomponents shown in FIG. 32 have been incorporated;

FIGS. 34A and 34B are views each illustrating a common method forcrystallizing an amorphous silicon film through scanning and irradiationwith an excimer pulse laser beam; and

FIGS. 35A and 35B are a partial plan view of a portion irradiated withthe laser beam in FIG. 34 and a plan view of a principal portion of athin-film transistor for illustrating an exemplary structure thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, the embodiments of the present invention willbe described herein below in detail.

FIG. 1 is a plan view for schematically illustrating a liquid crystaldisplay device as an example of an image display device fabricated byusing a fabrication method according to the present invention. In FIG.1, a reference numeral SUB1 denotes an active matrix substrate and areference numeral SUB2 denotes a color filter substrate bonded to theactive material substrate SUB1. The end portion of each of the activematrix substrate SUB1 and the color filter substrate SUB2 bonded to eachother with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween is indicatedby a virtual line. Although the color filter substrate SUB2 has an innersurface formed with a color filter or a common electrode, it is notdepicted in FIG. 1. Although the following description will be given byusing a liquid crystal display device using a color filter substrate asmentioned above, the present invention is also applicable to a liquidcrystal display device in a configuration in which a color filter isformed on an active matrix substrate.

The active matrix substrate SUB1 has a pixel region PAR occupying themajority of the center portion thereof and drive circuit regions DAR1,DAR2, and DAR3 which are located externally of the pixel region PAR andformed with circuits for supplying drive signals to a large number ofpixels formed in the pixel region PAR. In the present embodiment, thedrive circuit region DAR1 formed with data drive circuits DDR1, DDR2, .. . DDRn−1, and DDRn for supplying display data to the pixels isdisposed along one of the long sides (the upper side in FIG. 1) of theactive matrix substrate SUB1. The drive circuit region DAR2 having scancircuits GDR1 and GDR2 is disposed along each of the both sides (theleft-hand and right-hand sides in FIG. 1) adjacent to the drive circuitregion DAR1. The drive circuit region DAR3 having a so-called prechargecircuit is disposed along the other long side (the lower side in FIG. 1)of the active matrix substrate SUB1.

At the four corners where the active matrix substrate SUB1 and the colorfilter substrate SUB2 are in superimposed relation, pads CPAD forsupplying a common electrode potential from the active matrix substrateSUB1 to the common electrode of the color filter substrate SUB2 areprovided. The pads CPAD need not necessarily be provided at the fourcorners. It is also possible to provide the pad CPAD at any one of thecorners or the pads CPAD at any two or three of the corners.

Along the one long side of the active matrix substrate SUB1 which is notin superimposed relation with the color filter substrate SUB2, the inputterminals DTM (DTM1, DTM2, . . . DTMn−2, and DTMn) of the data drivecircuits DDR (DDR1, DDR2, . . . DDRn−1, and DDRn) and the inputterminals GTM (GTM1 and GTM2) of the scan circuits GDR (GDR1 and GDR2)are formed on the edge of the active matrix substrate SUB1. The pixelsarranged as a matrix in the pixel region PAR are provided atintersections of data lines DL extending from the data drive circuitsDDR and gate lines GL extending from the scan circuits GDR. Each of thepixels is composed of a thin-film transistor TFT and a pixel electrodePX.

In such a structure, the thin-film transistors TFT connected to the gateline GL selected by the scan circuits GDR (GDR1 and GDR2) are turned ON,a display data voltage supplied via the data lines DL extending from thedata drive circuits DDR (DDR1, DDR2, . . . DDRn−1, and DDRn) is appliedto the pixel electrode PX, and an electric field is generated betweenthe pixel electrode PX and the common electrode provided on the colorfilter substrate SUB2. The electric field changes liquid crystalorientation in the liquid crystal layer of the pixel portion so that thepixel is displayed.

In the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 1, the scan circuitGDR is divided into the two systems GDR1 and GDR2 which are disposed onthe left and right sides of the active matrix substrate SUB1, while therespective gate lines GL extending from the scan circuits GDR1 and GDR2are alternately disposed in interdigitating relation. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. It is also possible to disposeonly one scan circuit GDR on either of the left and right sides of theactive matrix substrate SUB1. In the following description, the activematrix substrate SUB1 provided with only one scan circuit GDR asdescribed above will be used as an example. Although the presentinvention is applicable to each of the drive circuit regions DAR1, DAR2,and DAR3, it is applied primarily to the drive circuit region DAR1 in amost precise circuit structure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary circuit structure ofthe data drive circuit portion in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, a reference numeralPAR denotes the pixel region. In the pixel region, the pixels PXdescribed above are arranged as a matrix in a horizontal (x) directionand a vertical (y) direction (the pixels are denoted by pixel electrodesPX). A reference numeral DDR denotes a data drive circuit. The datadrive circuit DDR is constituted by a horizontal shift register HSR, afirst latch circuit LT1 composed of a latch circuit LTF, a second latchcircuit LT2 composed of a latch circuit LTS, a digital-analog converterDAC composed of a digital-analog converting circuit D/A, a buffercircuit BA, a sampling circuit SAMP composed of a sampling switch SSW,and a vertical shift register VSR.

Various clock signals CL inputted from signal sources not shown via theinput terminals DTM enter the horizontal shift register HSR and traversethe data drive circuits DDR (DDR1, DDR2, . . . DDR1-n, and DDRn) to betransferred successively. The display data DATA on a data line DATA-L islatched therefrom by the first latch circuit LT1. The display datalatched by the first latch circuit LT1 is latched by the second latchcircuit LT2 in response to a latch control signal applied to a latchcontrol line. The display data latched by the second latch circuit LT2passes through the digital-analog converter DAC, the buffer circuit BA,and the sampling circuit SAMP to be supplied to the pixel PX in thepixel region PAR connected to the gate line selected by the verticalshift register VSR.

The present embodiment uses discrete reformed regions composed of aquasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film reformed to have a crystalboundary continuous in the scanning direction through selectiveirradiation performed by scanning the portion of the data drive circuitDDR with a pulse modulated laser beam. The range in which the discretereformed regions are used is indicated by a reference numeral SX.Ideally, the discrete reformed regions are provided throughout the rangeSX. However, it is also possible to perform continuous reformation withrespect to the circuit in one part of the range SX in consideration ofproductivity including throughput. The discrete modified region isdesignated by a reference numeral TL. A description will be given hereinbelow by using, as an example, a case where the silicon film of thecircuit portion composing the sampling switch SSW in the discretereformed region SX is reformed into a rectangular configuration. For thesake of convenience, such a rectangular region resulting from continuousreformation will be referred to also as a virtual tile. The size of thevirtual tile is set to correspond to the scale of the circuit to beformed or allow the formation of a plurality of circuits.

FIG. 3 is a structural view of sampling switch portions composing thesampling circuits shown in FIG. 2. The sampling switches SSW are formedin the respective virtual tiles TL arranged in a row in the x direction.Each of the sampling switches SSW is composed of an analog switch andhas a circuit structure more precise than that of the other componentsof the data drive circuits DDR so that they are densely arranged. Sincethe thin-film transistors composing the sampling switches SSW are formedin the discrete reformed regions with high electron mobility, they canbe formed with higher precision than the other circuits. Since thesignal lines R1, G1, B1, R2, G2, and B2 are arranged with a pixel pitchin the pixel region, the spacing between the output lines (signal lines)thereof is narrower on the output ends of the sampling switches SSW andwider on the pixel-region side in the resulting wiring pattern.

The buffer circuit BF outputs display data inputted from the horizontalshift register HSR and three signals obtained by inverting three signalsindicative of the display data. Since the buffer circuit BF outputssignals for two pixels, the total of twelve signals are outputted fromthe buffer circuit BF. In the case shown herein, the horizontal shiftregister HSR in one stage processes two pixels at a time. In data (videosignals) on each of colors for each of the pixels, the signals ofopposite polarities form pairs. Each of the sampling switches SSWdetermines which one of the signals of the opposite polarities should betransmitted for each of the pixels. As shown in FIG. 2, the polaritiesof the adjacent ones of the pixels are constantly opposite to each otherdue to the structure of the sampling switch SSW. In FIG. 3, R1represents a signal line for a pixel 1 (red), G1 represents a signalline for the pixel 1 (green), B1 represents a signal line for the pixel1 (blue), R2 represents a signal line for a pixel 2 (red), G2 representsa signal line for the pixel (2), and B2 represents a signal line for thepixel 2 (blue).

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view illustrating a structure of each of thesampling switch circuits formed in the respective virtual tiles shown inFIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the channel portion of thethin-film transistor (TFT), which shows crystal orientation in aquasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film by further enlarging the principalportion of FIG. 4. The virtual tile TL has been reformed by scanningwith the pulse modulated laser beam in the scanning direction x (or −x).The portion of the virtual tile TL designated by the reference numeralLD-P is a silicon island to be formed with a P-type TFT and the portionthereof indicated by the reference numeral LD-N is a silicon island tobe formed with an N-type TFT.

As shown in FIG. 5, a crystal boundary CB existing between the singlecrystals in the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film of the siliconislands LD-P and LD-N is substantially unidirectional in the crystalorientation CGR. The source and drain electrodes SD1 and SD2 are formedat opposing positions in the crystal orientation CGR so that thedirection of a current (channel current) lch flowing between the sourceand drain electrodes SD1 and SD2 is generally parallel with the crystalorientation CGR. By thus controlling the current lch such that it flowsin the same direction as the crystal orientation CGR, the electronmobility in the channel is increased.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the portion B in the virtual tileshown in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lineC-C′ of FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a timing chart illustrating operation shown inFIG. 6. The structures and operations shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 and 2. In FIG. 6, the referencenumerals NT1 and NT2 denote N-type thin-film transistors, PT1 and PT2denote P-type thin-film transistors, SR1 ⁺, SR1 ⁻, SR2 ⁺, and SR2 ⁻denote lines for signals transmitted from the horizontal shift registerHSR via the buffer BA, and VR⁺ and VR⁻ denote a red data signal (a redvideo signal). In FIG. 7, the reference numeral SUB1 denotes the activematrix substrate, NC denotes an N-type channel, PC denotes a P-typechannel, GI denotes a gate insulating film, L1 denotes an interlayerinsulating film, and PASS denotes an insulation protection film.

In FIG. 8, “1” is outputted to the signal line SR1 ⁺ and “−1” isoutputted to the signal line SR1 ⁻ at the time 1, while “−1” isoutputted to the signal line SR2 ⁻ and “1” is outputted to the signalline SR2 ⁺ at the time 2. The red data signal VR⁺ outputs a signal (ofthe polarity +) for the pixel 1 at the time 1 and a signal (of thepolarity +) for the pixel 2 at the time 2. Likewise, the red data signalVR⁻ outputs a signal (of the polarity −) for the pixel 2 at the time 1and a signal (of the polarity −) for the pixel 1 at the time 2. TheN-type thin-film transistor NT1 is turned ON at the time 1 to output thered data signal VR⁺ to the signal line R1. The P-type thin-filmtransistor PT1 is turned ON at the time 2 to output the red data signalVR⁻ to the signal line R1.

The N-type thin-film transistor NT2 is turned ON at the time 2 to outputthe red data signal VR⁺ to the signal line R2 and the P-type thin-filmtransistor PT2 is turned ON at the time 1 to output the red data signalVR⁻ to the signal line R2. Consequently, the signal line R1 outputs data(pixel signal) of the polarity + at the time 1 and data (pixel signal)of the polarity − at the time 2. On the other hand, the signal line R2outputs data (pixel signal) of the polarity − at the time 1 and data(pixel signal) of the polarity + at the time 1.

In the embodiment described above, the virtual tile TL of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film is provided for each of thecircuit formation portions of the sampling switches SSW composing thesampling circuits SAMP. As stated previously, each of the samplingswitches SSW is composed of an analog switch, which is a portion havinga complicated circuit structure and required to have particularly highprecision. The formation of the thin-film transistor by providing thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film shown by the virtual tile TL inthe circuit portion allows a circuit with high electron mobility andwith increased precision to be implemented. As a result, high-speedimage display can be performed. The portions in which the virtual tilesare provided are not limited to the foregoing sampling circuits SAMP.The virtual tiles can also be used in proper circuit formation portionswithin the range SX shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram similar to FIG. 2 for schematicallyillustrating another embodiment in which the image display deviceaccording to the present invention is applied to a liquid crystaldisplay device. The present embodiment has formed the virtual tiles TLin the respective portions of the first and second latch circuits LT1and LT2, the digital-analog converter DAC, and the buffer circuit BA.Thus, the present embodiment has formed the virtual tiles TL in two ormore rows parallel with each other in the x direction. As for the otherstructure, it is the same as shown in FIG. 2 so that overlappingdescription thereof will be omitted. Although each of the virtual tilesTL is shown in an outlined range for the sake of simplicity, there arealso cases where each of the virtual tiles TL form an aggregate composedof blocks each consisting of a plurality of virtual tiles each having anappropriate size in accordance with the circuit size used.

By providing the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films shown by thevirtual tiles TL in these circuit portions, it becomes possible toenhance electron mobility and definition. As a result, high-speed andhigh-definition image display can be performed. The portions in whichthe virtual tiles are provided are not limited to the foregoing ones.They may also include the sampling circuits SAMP, in the same manner asin FIG. 2. The virtual tiles TL may also be formed in various sizes tobe provided in the first and second latch circuits LT1 and LT2, thedigital-analog converter DAC, the buffer circuit BA, and a circuitobtained by properly combining the foregoing.

The sizes and arrangement of the virtual tiles and those of theindividual reformed regions described in each of the foregoingembodiments may be determined appropriately by considering a pattern inwhich the thin-film transistors of a circuit in use are formed. Forexample, a staggered arrangement or the like is also possible. A regulararrangement need not necessarily be performed.

Although each of the foregoing embodiments has applied the discretereformed regions (virtual tiles) composed of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films to the drive circuit region DAR1forming a data-side drive circuit, the present invention is not limitedthereto. The discrete reformed regions (virtual tiles) composed of thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films are also applicable to the scandrive circuit region DAR2 or to the drive circuit region DAR3 having aprecharge circuit.

Thus, the structure of each of the foregoing embodiments allows thefabrication of an image display device comprising an active matrixsubstrate having high-performance thin-film transistor circuits whichoperate with high mobility as drive circuits for driving pixel portionsarranged as a matrix and provides a high-quality image display device.

A description will be given next to the embodiments of the method forfabricating an image display device according to the present inventionwith reference to FIGS. 10A to 15N. The fabrication method which will bedescribed herein below uses the fabrication of a CMOS thin-filmtransistor as an example. An N-type thin-film transistor is formed tohave a self-aligned GOLDD (Gate Overlapped Light Doped Drain). A P-typethin-film transistor is formed by counter doping.

FIGS. 10A to 15N show a sequence of fabrication processes. The sequenceof fabrication processes will be described with reference to FIG. 10A toFIG. 15N. First, a heat resistant glass substrate SUB1 with a thicknessof about 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm which undergoes only reduced deformation andshrinkage in a heat treatment preferably at 400° C. to 600° C. isprepared as an insulating substrate serving as an active matrixsubstrate. Preferably, a SiN film with a thickness of about 50 nm whichfunctions as a thermal and chemical barrier film and a SiO film with athickness of about 100 nm are deposited continuously and uniformly byCVD on the glass substrate SUB1. An amorphous silicon film ASI is formedby means of CVD or the like on the glass substrate SUB1 (FIG. 10A).

Next, scanning with an excimer laser beam ELA is performed in the xdirection to melt and crystallize the amorphous silicon film ASI,thereby reforming the entire amorphous silicon film ASI on the glasssubstrate SUB1 into a polycrystalline silicon film, i.e., a polysiliconfilm PSI (FIG. 10B).

Instead of the method using the excimer laser beam ELA, another methodusing, e.g., solid pulse laser annealing may also be adopted to causecrystallization. In forming a silicon film, it is also possible to use aCat-CVD film which is to form a polysilicon film.

A positioning mark MK serving as a target in determining a position tobe irradiated with a laser beam SXL such as a pulse modulated laser (theuse of a pulse-width modulated laser is assumed here), which will bedescribed later, is formed by photolithography or dry etching (FIG.10C).

With reference to the mark MK, scanning with the pulse modulated laserbeam SXL is performed in the x direction to selectively and discretelyirradiate a specified region. By the selective irradiation, thepolysilicon film PSI is reformed and the discrete reformed regionscomposed of the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films having a crystalboundary continuous in the scanning direction (the silicon film of eachof the virtual tiles) SPSI are formed. At this time, the virtual tilescan also be formed simultaneously in the drive circuit regions DAR3located along the sides adjacent to the drive circuit regions DAR1 andDAR2 by extensively applying the laser beam scanning the drive circuitregions DAR1 and/or DAR2 in FIG. 1 such that the drive circuit regionDAR is covered therewith (FIG. 11D).

The discrete reformed regions composed of the quasi-strip-like-crystalsilicon films (the silicon film of each of the virtual tiles) SPSI areprocessed by photolithography so that islands SPSI-L in which thethin-film transistors are to be formed are formed (FIG. 11E).

A gate insulating film GI is formed to cover the islands SPSI-L of thediscrete reformed regions (the silicon film of each of the virtualtiles) SPSI (FIG. 11F).

Implantation NE for threshold control is performed with respect to theregion to be formed with the N-type thin-film transistor. During theimplantation, the region to be formed with the P-type thin-filmtransistor is covered with a photoresist RNE (FIG. 12G).

Next, implantation PE for threshold control is performed with respect tothe region to be formed with the P-type thin-film transistor. During theimplantation, the region to be formed with the N-type thin-filmtransistor is covered with a photoresist RPE (FIG. 12H).

Then, metal gate films GT1 and GT2 serving as the gate electrodes of thethin-film transistors are formed in two layers thereon by sputtering orCVD (FIG. 12I).

The regions formed with the metal gate films GT1 and GT2 are coveredwith the photoresist RN and the metal gate films GT1 and GT2 arepatterned by photolithography. To form LDD regions, a required amount ofside etching is performed with respect to the upper-layer metal gatefilm GT2 to retract the metal gate film GT2 from the lower-layer metalgate film GT1. In this state, an N-type impurity N is implanted by usingthe photoresist RN as a mask so that the source/drain regions NSD of theN-type thin-film transistor are formed (FIG. 13J).

The photoresist RN is removed and implantation LDD is performed by usingthe metal gate film GT2 as a mask, thereby forming the LDD regions LDDof the N-type thin-film transistor (FIG. 13K).

The region to be formed with the N-type thin-film transistor is coveredwith a photoresist RP and a P-type impurity P is implanted into thesource/drain formation regions of the P-type thin-film transistor sothat the source/drain regions PSD of the P-type thin-film transistor areformed (FIG. 14L).

The photoresist RP is removed. After the implanted impurities areactivated, an interlayer insulating film L1 is formed by CVD or the like(FIG. 14M).

A contact hole is formed by photolithography in the interlayerinsulating film L1 and in the gate insulating film GI. A metal layer forline is connected to each of the respective sources and drains NSD andPSD of the N-type and P-type thin-film transistors via the contact hole,whereby a line is formed. An interlayer insulating film L2 is formedthereon and a protective insulating film PASS is further formed (FIG.14N).

By the foregoing steps, a MOS thin-film transistor is formed in thediscrete reformed regions composed of the quasi-strip-like-crystalsilicon films (the silicon films of each of the virtual tiles). Ingeneral, the N-type thin-film transistor undergoes severe degradation.If light doped impurity regions LDD (Light Doped Drain Regions) areformed between the channel and the source/drain regions, the degradationis reduced. The gate overlapped light doped drain GOLDD has a structurein which the gate electrode covers the light doped impurity regions. Inthis case, a reduction in performance observed in the light doped drainLDD regions is reduced. In the P-type thin-film transistor, degradationis not so serious as in the N-type thin-film transistor so that thelight doped impurity regions LDD and the gate overlapped light dopeddrain GOLDD are not normally used.

A description will be given next to the formation of the discretereformed regions composed of the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films(the silicon films of the virtual tiles), which characterize the presentinvention, with reference to FIGS. 16A to 26. FIGS. 16A to 16C are viewsillustrating the process of forming the discrete reformed regionscomposed of the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films (the siliconfilms of the virtual tiles), of which FIG. 16A is a schematic diagramillustrating the process, FIG. 16B shows an example of the waveform of apulse modulated laser, and FIG. 16C shows an example of the waveform ofa pseudo CW laser.

The discrete reformed regions composed of the quasi-strip-like-crystalsilicon films (the silicon films of the virtual tiles) are obtained byirradiating the polysilicon film PSI formed on the buffer layer BFL ofthe insulating substrate SUB1 with the laser beam SXL shown in FIG. 16Bor 16C. As the laser beam SXL, the pulse modulated beam shown in FIG.16B or the pseudo CW laser beam shown in FIG. 16C is applied in periodsof 10 ns to 100 ms. By scanning the substrate SUB1 (in the x direction)with the laser beam XSL applied, shifted in the y direction, and thenapplied in the −x direction, the silicon film SPSI havingquasi-strip-like crystals in the x and −x directions as the scanningdirections are obtained, as shown in FIG. 16A. The insulating substrateSUNB1 has a positioning mark MK and the scanning with the laser beam XSLis performed by using the mark MK as the positioning target. Since thescanning of the substrate is thus performed by intermittent laserirradiation, the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films PSI can bearranged in the virtual tiles.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are views illustrating the crystal structure of eachof the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films, of which FIG. 17A is aschematic diagram illustrating a form of scanning with the laser beamSXL and FIG. 17B is a schematic diagram showing, for comparison, thedifferent crystal structures of the quasi-strip-like-crystal siliconfilm SPSI formed by scanning with the laser beam SXL and the polysiliconfilm PSI remaining in the unscanned portions. By reforming thepolysilicon film PSI through scanning with the laser beam SXL as shownin FIG. 17A, the crystal structure of the quasi-strip-like-crystalsilicon film SPSI is obtained in which the single crystals reside instrips extending in the direction of scanning with the laser beam asshown in FIG. 17B. The reference numeral CB represents a crystalboundary.

The average grain size of the single crystals in thequasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films SPSI is about 5 μm in thedirection of scanning with the laser beam SXL and about 0.5 μm (thewidth between the crystal boundaries CB) in a direction orthogonal tothe scanning direction. The grain size in the scanning direction can bevaried by changing conditions including the energy of the laser beamSXL, the scanning speed, and the pulse width. By contrast, the averagegrain diameter in the polysilicon film PSI is about 0.6 μm (0.3 to 1.2μm). Such a difference in crystal structure provides greatly differentelectron mobilities when the thin-film transistors are constructed byusing the polysilicon film PSI and the quasi-strip-like-crystal siliconfilm SPSI.

The quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film SPSI described above has suchcharacteristics that:

-   -   (a) the main orientation in the surface is the {110}        orientation; and    -   (b) the main orientation in a plane substantially perpendicular        to the carrier moving direction is the {100} orientation.

The two orientations in the foregoing (a) and (b) can be evaluated byelectron beam diffraction or by EBSP (Electron Backscatter DiffractionPattern). Other characteristics are such that:

-   -   (c) the density of defects in the film is lower than 1×10¹⁷        cm⁻³. The number of crystal defects in the film is a value        defined by electric characteristics or through quantitative        evaluation of unpaired electrons by electron spin resonance        (ESR);    -   (d) the hole mobility in the film is 50 cm²/Vs or more and 700        cm²/Vs or less;    -   (e) the thermal conductivity of the film has temperature        dependence and shows a maximum value at a certain temperature.        If the temperature rises, the thermal conductivity increases        temporarily to show a maximum value not less than 50 W/mK and        not more than 100 W/mK. In the high temperature region, the        thermal conductivity decreases as the temperature rises. The        thermal conductivity is a value evaluated and defined by the        3-omega method or the like. Still other characteristics are such        that: [76]    -   (f) the Raman shift in the thin film evaluated and defined by        Raman scattering spectroscopy is not less than 512 cm⁻¹ and not        more than 518 cm⁻¹; and    -   (g) the distribution of Σ values in the crystal boundary of the        film has a maximum value at Σ11 and shows a Gaussian        configuration. The Σ values are measured by electron beam        diffraction or by EBSP (Electron Backscatter Diffraction        Pattern). Yet another characteristic is such that:    -   (h) the optical constants of the film are characterized in that        they are in ranges satisfying the following requirements: The        reflectivity n at a wavelength of 500 nm is not less than 2.0        and not more than 4.0 and the attenuation factor k is not less        than 0.3 and not more than 1; and the reflectivity n at a        wavelength of 300 nm is not less than 3.0 and not more than 4.0        and the attenuation factor k is not less than 3.5 and not more        than 4. The optical constants are values measured by using a        spectroscopic ellipsometer.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are views illustrating the different electronmobilities in the channel of the thin-film transistor resulting from thedifferent crystal structures of the silicon films, of which FIG. 18Ashows the relations among the channel structure of the thin-filmtransistor, the crystal boundary CB in the silicon film SI on thechannel portion, and the electron mobility and FIG. 18B shows therelationship between the number of crystal boundaries traversed by acurrent flowing between the source SD1 and the drain SD2 and theelectron mobility. If the silicon film SI is a polysilicon film PSI, thecurrent from the drain SD2 to the source SD1 traverses a larger numberof crystal boundaries. If the silicon film SI is aquasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film SPS1, a large single crystalresides in an extended configuration in the direction of growth and thecurrent traverses a smaller number of crystal boundaries. The relationsare shown in FIG. 18B.

An average number of traversed crystal boundaries is represented byC=ΣNi/j where j is a number by which the width of the channel is dividedin the direction of the current and Ni is the number of traversedcrystal boundaries in the direction of the current flow. In FIG. 18B,the average number of traversed crystal boundaries is represented asabscissa and the electron mobility (cm²/Vs) and the reciprocal (Vs/cm²)thereof are represented as ordinate. By thus disposing the source SD1and the drain SD2 such that the current flows in the direction of thecrystal growth in the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film SPSIcomposing the channel of the thin-film transistor, the electron mobilityis extremely increased. In other words, the operating speed of thethin-film transistor is increased. This allows precise formation of thethin-film transistor and the lines R1, G1, B1, R2, G2, and B2 can beformed with a pitch smaller than the pixel pitch, as shown in FIG. 3. Asa result, a large space is formed between circuits formed by using thevirtual tiles. It is also possible to use the space as a space forforming another line or the like.

FIG. 19 is a structural view illustrating an example of an apparatus forlaser beam irradiation. In the irradiation apparatus, the glasssubstrate SUB1 formed with the polysilicon film PSI is placed on a drivestage XYT movable in x-y directions and positioning is performed byusing a camera CM for reference position measurement. A referenceposition measurement signal POS is inputted to a control unit CRL andthe irradiation position is adjusted finely based on a control signal CSinputted to drive equipment MD. Unidirectional scanning (the x directionin FIG. 1) is performed by moving the stage XYT at a specified speed. Insynchronization with the scanning, the laser beam SXL is emitted fromirradiation equipment LU to irradiate the polysilicon film PSI, therebyreforming it into the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film SPSI.

By disposing, in the irradiation equipment LU, an oscillator forcontinuous-wave (CW) solid-state laser LS (Laser Diode) excitation, ahomogenizer, an optical system HOS such as an EO modulator for pulsewidth modulation, a reflecting mirror ML, and a focusing lens system LZ,by way of example, a desired irradiation beam can be formed. Theirradiation time, intensity, and the like of the laser beam SXL areadjusted with an ON-OFF signal SWS and a control signal LEC from thecontrol unit CRL.

FIG. 20 is a plan view for illustrating an example of the layout of thevirtual tiles. In the example of arrangement, the virtual tiles TL arearranged in a plurality of rows in the drive circuit region DAR1described with reference to FIG. 1. The virtual tiles TL can be arrangedin a single row, two or more multiple rows, or in a staggeredconfiguration in accordance with a pulse for a circuit to be formed. Inthe present example, the virtual tiles TL are arranged in three rows (orthree stages). The size of each of the virtual tiles TL is such that thelength w thereof in the x direction is not less than 20 μm and not morethan 1 mm, the width h thereof in the y direction is not less than 20 μmand not more than 1 mm, the spacing d between the two tiles adjacent inthe x direction is not less than 3 μm, and the spacing p between the twotiles adjacent in the y direction is not less than 3 μm. The arrangementsize is limited by the power of the laser and a size which allows stablegrowth of a high-quality crystal.

FIG. 21 is a view illustrating an example of a laser irradiation processusing the irradiation apparatus of FIG. 19. In FIG. 21, the insulatingsubstrate is simply denoted as a substrate. First, a power supply forthe apparatus is turned ON to irradiate the insulating substrate formedwith the polysilicon film with the laser beam SXL and the laser isturned ON. The insulating substrate is placed on the drive stage XYT andfixed by using a vacuum chuck. By using the positioning mark on theinsulating substrate as the target, an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a O-axis(the direction of rotation in an X-Y plane) are adjusted to specifiedvalues, whereby the preparation of the insulating substrate iscompleted.

Meanwhile, various conditions are inputted to the irradiation apparatusand checked. Items of inputted conditions include a laser output(adjustment of an ND filter and the like), setting of a crystallizationposition (on the drive stage XYT), a crystallization length (the lengthof each of the virtual tiles in the growth direction of a crystal), acrystallization interval (the interval between the virtual tiles), thenumber of crystallizations (the number of the virtual tiles to beproduced), the adjustment of the width of a slit on a laser beam path,and the setting of an objective lens. The crystallization distance, thecrystallization interval, and the number of crystallizations are set tothe EO modulator. Items to be checked include a beam profiler for thelaser beam, a power monitor, and the position of laser beam irradiation.

After the preparation of the insulating substrate is completed and theconditions are inputted and checked, the surface height of theinsulating substrate is measured and laser beam irradiation is performedby operating an auto focus mechanism. The auto focus mechanism iscorrected by the laser beam irradiation so that the surface height ofthe insulating substrate is controlled. While the laser beam irradiationis continued, the scanning distance and the irradiation position on theinsulating substrate are fed back to the condition input side.

After the laser beam irradiation process to a specified region iscompleted, the vacuum chuck is turned OFF and the insulating substrateis retrieved from the drive stage XYT. Then, a next insulating substrateis placed on the drive stage XYT and the foregoing operation is repeateda required number of times. When the required laser irradiationprocesses to the insulating substrates is entirely completed, the laseroscillator is turned OFF and the power supply for the apparatus isturned OFF, whereby the laser irradiation process is completed.

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating the operation of forming the virtualtiles from the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films SPSI, which isperformed to each of the individual insulating substrates of a multiplelarge sized mass insulating substrate. In FIG. 22, the reference numeralM-SUB denotes the large-sized mass insulating substrate formed with thelarge number of active matrix substrates SUB1 of individual imagedisplay devices. Although the total number of individual insulatingsubstrates shown herein is 8×6=48, it will easily be appreciated thatthe number of individual insulating substrates is not limited thereto.After positioning is performed relative to the drive circuit region onthe large-sized mass insulating substrate M-SUB by using the mark MK asthe target, reciprocal scanning with the laser beam is performed asindicated by the arrow SDS in the drawing. Short-time formation of therequired virtual tiles in the large-sized mass insulating substrateM-SUN is enabled herein by performing scanning with three laser beams inparallel with each other.

FIGS. 23A and 23B are plan views of an active matrix substrateillustrating an example of the positions of the virtual tiles formed inFIG. 22, of which FIG. 23A is an overall view and FIG. 23B is anenlarged view of the portion indicated by the arrow A. In this example,the blocks of a plurality of virtual tiles TL are arranged in one rowalong one side in the x direction of the drive circuit region DAR1 fordata signal of the active matrix substrate SUB1. In this case, theplurality of virtual tiles are provided in the entire region indicatedby the reference numeral SX in FIG. 2 or 9 or in the sampling circuitportion SAMP of FIG. 2, the portion of each of the latch circuits LT1and LT2 of FIG. 9, in the portion of the digital-analog converter DAC,and in the portion of the buffer circuit BA and disposed in dividedrelation in blocks. The individual reformed regions composing thevirtual tiles are similarly disposed. It is to be noted that the sizesand positions of the blocks of the virtual tiles and the individualreformed regions of FIG. 23B are shown differently from the sizes andpositions of the actual circuits for easy understanding of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 24A and 24B are enlarged views illustrating other arrangements ofthe virtual tiles, similar to FIG. 23B. The blocks of the virtual tilesTL are arranged in two rows parallel to the x direction, as shown inFIG. 24A, or arranged in three rows which are parallel with the xdirection in staggered relation. The sizes and spacing of the blocks canbe varied in accordance with a circuit structure in use. The individualreformed regions composing the blocks can also be arranged in aplurality of rows or in staggered relation.

FIGS. 25 and 26 are plan views of an active matrix substrateillustrating other examples of the positions of the virtual tiles. InFIG. 25, the virtual tiles are applied to the drive circuit regions DAR1and DAR3 described with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 26, the virtualtiles are applied to the drive circuit regions DAR1 and DAR3 describedwith reference to FIG. 1 and to the scan drive circuit region DAR2formed along one side of the active matrix substrate SUB1 extending inthe y direction. The arrangement and the like of the individual virtualtiles and blocks are the same as those described with reference to FIGS.23A to 24B.

A description will be given next to the positioning mark for forming thevirtual tiles on the insulating substrate (active matrix substrate).FIGS. 27P-1, 27P-2, and 27P-3 are views illustrating a first example ofa positioning mark formed on an active matrix substrate SUB1 and thelaser irradiation process using the mark as the target. In this example,the positioning mark MK is formed by photolithography on a silicon filmSI formed on the active matrix substrate SUB1 (P-1) and positioning(alignment) is performed by using the mark MK as a reference during thesubsequent irradiation with a continuous pulse laser SLX (P-2). Then,the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film SPSI resulting fromreformation through irradiation with the continuous pulse laser SLX isprocessed into islands SPSI-L (P-3) by similarly using the mark MK as areference. The mark MK may also be formed in the stage of an amorphoussilicon film ASI or in the stage of a polysilicon film.

FIGS. 28P-1, 28P-2, and 28P-3 are views illustrating a second example ofthe positioning mark formed on the active matrix substrate SUB1 and thelaser beam irradiation process using the mark as the target. In thisexample, after the polysilicon film PSI is formed on the active matrixsubstrate SUB1 (P-1), the positioning mark MK is formed with the laserSLX when the polysilicon film PSI is irradiated with the laser SLX(P-2). During the subsequent formation of the islands SPSI-L,positioning is performed by using the mark MK (P-3).

The polysilicon film PSI and the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon filmSPSI have different reflectivities for visible light. The difference inreflectivity can be used as a positioning target. In addition, thepolysilicon film PSI and the quasi-strip-like-crystal silicon film SPSIhave different heights resulting from the sizes of the crystals. It isalso possible to use a difference in level in the crystal grain of aportion corresponding to the mark MK reformed into a quasi-strip-likecrystal. It is also possible to remove the portion of the polysiliconfilm corresponding to the mark MK by laser abrasion to form the mark MK.The method for forming the mark MK by laser abrasion is advantageous inthat the photolithographic step for forming the mark MK can be omitted.

FIGS. 29P-1, 29P-2, and 29P-3 are views illustrating a third example ofthe positioning mark formed on the active matrix substrate SUB1 and thelaser beam irradiation process using the mark as the target. In thisexample, the glass substrate or an underlying film is preliminarilyformed with the mark MK by etching or by mechanical means (P-1) beforethe silicon film is formed on the active matrix substrate SUB1. Theactive matrix substrate SUB1 is then formed with the polysilicon filmPSI and irradiation with the laser beam SLX is performed by using themark MK as a reference, thereby forming the quasi-strip-like-crystalsilicon film SPSI (P-2). During the subsequent formation of the islandsSPSI-L, positioning is performed by using the mark MK (P-3)

Thus, according to the present embodiment, the polysilicon film isreformed into larger crystals and the probability that a current betweenthe source and drain traverses crystal boundaries can be reduced throughthe orientation of the direction of crystal growth. This improves theoperating speed of the thin-film transistor, allows the formation of anoptimal thin-film transistor circuit, and allows the placement ofthin-film transistor circuits using semiconductor films ofquasi-strip-like-crystal silicon films at the drive circuit portions ofan image display device. The performance of the thin-film transistorobtained in the present embodiment is such that, if an N-channel MIStransistor is to be produced, a field effect mobility is about 300cm²/Vs or more and variations in threshold voltage can be reduced to 0.2V or less. Consequently, a high-performance display device using anactive matrix substrate which operates with high reliability andfeatures excellent device-to-device uniformity can be fabricated.

The present embodiment can also fabricate a P-channel MIS transistor byboron implantation which provides holes and carriers instead ofphosphorus ion implantation which provides electrons and carriers. Inthe foregoing CMOS circuit, an improvement in frequency characteristicis expected suitably for high-speed operation.

FIG. 30 is a developed perspective view showing a structure of a liquidcrystal display device as a first example of the image display deviceaccording to the present invention. FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional viewtaken along the line Z-Z of FIG. 30. The liquid crystal display deviceis fabricated by using the active matrix substrate described above. InFIGS. 30 and 31, the reference numeral PNL denotes a liquid crystal cellobtained by bonding the color filter substrate SUB2 to the active matrixsubstrate SUB1 and sealing a liquid crystal into the space therebetween.Polarizing plates POL1 and POL2 are stacked on the top and back surfacesof the liquid crystal cell PNL. The reference numeral OPS denotes anoptical compensation members GLB denotes a beam guiding plate, CFLdenotes a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, RFS denotes a reflection sheet,LFS denotes a lamp reflection sheet, SHD denotes a shield frame, and MDLdenotes a mold case.

A liquid crystal orientation film layer is formed on the active matrixsubstrate SUB1 having any of the structures according to the foregoingembodiments and an orientation control force is imparted thereto by atechnique such as rubbing. After a sealer is formed on the periphery ofthe pixel region AR, the color filter substrate SUB2 similarly formedwith an orientation film layer is disposed in opposing relation to theactive matrix substrate SUB1 with a specified gap held therebetween. Theliquid crystal is sealed in the gap and an injection hole for sealer isclosed with a sealing member. The polarizing plates POLL and POL2 arestacked on the top and back surfaces of the liquid crystal cell PNL thusconstructed and a backlight composed of the beam guiding plate GLB, thecold cathode fluorescent lamp CFL, and the like is mounted via theoptical compensation member OPS, whereby the liquid crystal displaydevice is fabricated. A data signal and a timing signal are supplied toa drive circuit provided on the periphery of the liquid crystal cell viaflexible printed boards FPC1 and FPC2. Between an external signal sourceand each of the flexible printed board FPC1 and FPC2, a timing converterfor converting a display signal inputted from the external signal sourceto a signal form displayed on the liquid crystal display device and thelike are mounted on a printed circuit board designated by the referencenumeral PCB.

The liquid crystal display device using the active matrix substrateaccording to the present embodiment is suitable for a high-speedoperation since it has an excellent current driving ability with theexcellent polysilicon thin-film transistor circuit being disposed in thepixel circuit thereof. The present embodiment also offers an advantageof providing a liquid crystal display device which is uniform in imagequality due to reduced variations in threshold voltage.

An organic EL display device can also be fabricated by using the activematrix substrate according to the present embodiment. FIG. 32 is adeveloped perspective view illustrating an exemplary structure of theorganic EL display device as a second example of the image displaydevice according to the present invention. FIG. 33 is a plan view of theorganic EL display device obtained by integrating the components shownin FIG. 32 into one body. An organic EL element is formed on a pixelelectrode provided on any of the active matrix substrates SUB1 accordingto the foregoing individual embodiments. The organic EL element iscomposed of a multilayer structure consisting of a hole transport layer,a light-emitting layer, an electron transport layer, a cathode metallayer, and the like which are vapor deposited successively on a surfaceof the pixel electrode. A sealer is disposed on the periphery of thepixel region PAR of the active matrix substrate SUB1 formed with such amultilayer structure and sealing is performed by using a sealingsubstrate SUBX or a sealing can.

In the organic EL display device, a display signal is supplied from anexternal signal source to a drive circuit region DDL with a printedboard PLB. An interface circuit chip CTL is mounted on the printed boardPLB. Integration is performed by using a shield frame SHD as an uppercase and a lower case CAS to form the organic EL display device.

Since the organic EL element operates in a current-driven light-emittingmode in active matrix driving for the organic EL display device, the useof a high-performance pixel circuit is essential to the provision of ahigh-quality image so that a pixel circuit of a CMOS thin-filmtransistor is used desirably. A thin-film transistor circuit formed in adrive circuit region is also essential to the achievement of a highspeed and a high definition. The active matrix substrate SUB1 accordingto the present embodiment has high performance satisfying theserequirements. The organic EL display device using the active matrixsubstrate fabricated by the fabrication method according to the presentinvention is one of display devices which maximally achieve theadvantages of the present embodiment.

The fabrication method according to the present invention is neitherlimited to the fabrication of the active matrix substrates of theforegoing image display devices nor limited to the fabrication of thestructures recited in claims and described in the embodiments. Variouschanges and modifications may be made without departing from thetechnical idea of the present invention. For example, the fabricationmethod according to the present invention is also applicable to thefabrication of various semiconductor devices.

1. A method for fabricating an image display device comprising steps of:forming a semiconductor film over an insulating substrate; forming aquasi-strip-like crystal having a semiconductor crystal grown in aquasi-strip-like shape at a plurality of portions of said semiconductorfilm by scanning and irradiating a laser beam of a continuous-wave laserto said semiconductor film; forming a thin film transistor includingsaid quasi-strip-like crystal; and dividing said insulating substrateinto a plurality of active matrix substrates by cutting said insulatingsubstrate without crossing said portions where said laser beam of saidcontinuous-wave laser is irradiated.
 2. A method for fabricating animage display device according to claim 1, wherein scanning andirradiating said laser beam of said continuous-wave laser is performedby moving said insulating substrate.
 3. A method for fabricating animage display device according to claim 1, wherein said semiconductorfilm includes silicon.
 4. A method for fabricating an image displaydevice according to claim 1, wherein said dividing step involvesscanning and modulating said laser beam emitted from saidcontinuous-wave laser into a pulse modulated laser beam.
 5. A method forfabricating an image display device according to claim 1, whereinreciprocal scanning with said laser beam is performed.
 6. A method forfabricating an image display device according to claim 1, whereinscanning with a plurality of said laser beams in parallel with eachother is performed.
 7. A method for fabricating an image display deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein irradiating said laser beam of saidcontinuous-wave laser to said semiconductor film is performed beforepatterning said semiconductor film.
 8. A method for fabricating an imagedisplay device according to claim 1, wherein said step of forming saidsemiconductor film over said insulating substrate involves forming anamorphous semiconductor film.
 9. A method for fabricating an imagedisplay device according to claim 1, wherein said step of forming saidsemiconductor film over said insulating substrate involves forming apolycrystalline semiconductor film.
 10. A method for fabricating animage display device according to claim 1, further comprising a step offorming a positioning mark by irradiating said continuous wave laser tosaid semiconductor film.
 11. A method for fabricating an image displaydevice according to claim 10, wherein positioning is performed by usingsaid positioning mark when patterning said semiconductor film in whichsaid quasi-strip-like crystal is formed.
 12. A method for fabricating animage display device comprising steps of: forming a semiconductor filmover an insulating substrate; forming a quasi-strip-like crystal havinga semiconductor crystal grown in a quasi-strip-like shape at a pluralityof portions of said semiconductor film by scanning and irradiating alaser beam of a pseudo continuous-wave laser to said semiconductor film;forming a thin film transistor including said quasi-strip-like crystal;and dividing said insulating substrate into a plurality of active matrixsubstrates by cutting said insulating substrate without crossing saidportions where said laser beam of said pseudo continuous-wave laser isirradiated.
 13. A method for fabricating an image display deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein scanning and irradiating said laser beamof said pseudo continuous-wave laser is performed by moving saidinsulating substrate.
 14. A method for fabricating an image displaydevice according to claim 12, wherein said semiconductor film includessilicon.
 15. A method for fabricating an image display device accordingto claim 12, wherein said dividing step involves scanning and modulatingsaid laser beam emitted from said pseudo continuous-wave laser into apulse modulated laser beam.
 16. A method for fabricating an imagedisplay device according to claim 12, wherein reciprocal scanning withsaid laser beam is performed.
 17. A method for fabricating an imagedisplay device according to claim 12, wherein scanning with a pluralityof said laser beams in parallel with each other is performed.
 18. Amethod for fabricating an image display device according to claim 12,wherein irradiating said laser beam of said pseudo continuous-wave laserto said semiconductor film is performed before patterning saidsemiconductor film.
 19. A method for fabricating an image display deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein said step of forming said semiconductorfilm over said insulating substrate involves forming an amorphoussemiconductor film.
 20. A method for fabricating an image display deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein said step of forming said semiconductorfilm over said insulating substrate involves forming a polycrystallinesemiconductor film.
 21. A method for fabricating an image display deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a step of forming a positioningmark by irradiating said pseudo continuous-wave laser to saidsemiconductor film.
 22. A method for fabricating an image display deviceaccording to claim 21, wherein positioning is performed by using saidpositioning mark when patterning said semiconductor film in which saidquasi-strip-like crystal is formed.